Pentagon officials have flown to Australia to for "emergency talks"
to express their frustration over the Port of Darwin sale
and Canberra's reluctance to stand up to Beijing.

Last year, the port hosted 102 naval vessels, according to its annual report, and was the point of arrival for US Marines on rotation through Darwin. Pentagon officials now want assurances from Australia on security arrangements at the port and better systems to ensure the breakdown in communication doesn't happen again.

The US officials also expressed concerns over Australia's lack of interest in sending naval ships to join Washington's so-called "freedom of navigation" operations in the South China Sea.

The United States and Japan said Thursday Tokyo would pay a third of the cost of Washington pulling thousands of Marines out of Japan as it reduces its heavy military presence on Okinawa.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera signed the protocol amending the 2009 Guam International Agreement, as part of a meeting on the two countries’ alliance.

Changes include “clarifying that Japan will contribute up to $3.1 billion in Fiscal Year 2012 US dollars in direct cash contributions to develop facilities and infrastructure in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands”, the state department said.

It accounts for 36 percent of the projected $8.6 billion cost of the relocation.

In a 2012 agreement, the United States said it would pull 9,000 Marines out of Okinawa — 4,000 of whom would go to Guam and 5,000 to Hawaii and on rotations to Australia — as it seeks to ease a long-running standoff over the future of its huge military presence in one of its top Asian allies.

Tensions continue to grow in the South China Sea between the United States and China. But there’s tensions closer to home as well. On the Aboriginal-owned Tiwi Islands, Traditional Owners are increasingly concerned plans are afoot to bring the full might of the United States military into their pristine backyard. A massive port recently constructed on the island – without any environmental approval – is at the centre of the angst. Thom Mitchell continues his ongoing investigation into the Tiwi Islands port.

with the Chinese now controlling port Darwin, the rumour about USA marines at Port Melville are growing louder..

Defence was asked about any sensitivities over Darwin's China port deal, the NT Government says.

Defence was consulted prior to the deal being sealed, after a NT parliamentary committee noted the strategic position of the port and warned no foreign investment should occur that threatened the country's security interests.

While a Federal Government spokesperson said Defence secured a 15-year access agreement to the port in anticipation of the lease occurring - they also said it was spending millions of dollars on an alternative barge facility in Darwin.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), which is against the deal, has labelled the lease a strategic worry for the Top End, which plays host to a large Australian Defence presence and yearly rotations of USA Marines.

The USA Chief of naval operations, Admiral Greenert, when he was in Australia last year clearly identified port infrastructure needs in Darwin as a critical element to the growth of 'cooperation' in Darwin.

Parliament has approved an $18 million project to build a barge facility at a site adjacent to the Darwin port that will be capable of loading and unloading giant amphibious naval ships at short notice.

A man is cut out of a ute after it crashes with a USA Marines vehicle in Katherine in the NT.

Police said the crash happened at 1:45pm at the junction of the Victoria and Stuart highways.

The 34-year-old man was trapped in the ute for about 45 minutes while emergency services diverted traffic and attempted to free him from the wreckage.

Police told the ABC the man has been taken to Katherine Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The six-wheel off-road truck is called a Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement - a vehicle used by the USA Marines to haul equipment and troops.